One becomes a ‘lame duck’ when one’s successor is elected. You could say the president was a lame duck in 2014, but why not say he was an angry parsnip, or a vengeful salad?
I’ll grant you that this nomination, if it happens, could be considered a gambit. What you’d suggested before though, that Sandoval would be a cat’s paw meant to make a Senate confirmation more likely for an actual candidate to be revealed later, would be a whole next level of strategy. A level this administration doesn’t play at for anything but the TPP and the like.
On the numerical scale your source set out for Supreme Court justices, the Democratic nominees clustered closely together. Using those figures, there’s a great deal more extremity between Scalia and Alito than Ginsberg and Kagan. Not seeing those ladies as wildly outside the Overton window the way you seem to. Personally, I think those ratings are less than reliable. Clinton’s nominee Justice Ginsberg is the anvil that will wear out many a hammer, at least for now.
As for whether this president would nominate a moderate for the Supreme Court, time will tell, right? Reality distortion field aside, this president is to the right of Eisenhower. While you and I may have our own ideas about what the priorities are for new justices, the Powers That Be may have their own. Let me suggest some of the issues you mention may be incidental to the actual mindset either of these parties may have around who to put on the court. We don’t know what the actual calculus may be.
Me, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Obama Administration put up the Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson. He’s just been through Senate confirmation, and may embody the administration’s zealous efforts to put what Cheney once called “working the dark side” under the color of law. Similarly, I could see it being the Attorney General, Loretta Lynch. If only because Goldman Sachs may think they’d make one thin dime more with her on the bench. She's just been Senate-confirmed, her sweetheart deal deferred prosecution agreement with HSBC having been discreetly swept under the carpet until after the swearing in.
Not seeing those ladies as wildly outside the Overton window the way you seem to.
It's not my argument- Supreme Court opinions are publicly available and their records speak for themselves. I'm not advocating a position here anymore than I'm advocating a position when I say that 2 + 2 = 4. The Justices' opinions, votes, and decisions are scored by The Supreme Court Database, and their data and methods are readily available for anyone to see.
Me, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Obama Administration put up the Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson
I know that this may shock you- coming as it does from a Republican, but I honestly believe that the only person Barack Obama could nominate right now- who would even stand a chance of getting confirmed by this Senate, is Barack Obama.
The President would be forced to resign in order to take the job, and I believe that Mitch McConnell would jump at the chance to end the Obama Presidency even one day sooner. He's a graduate of Harvard Law, former President of the Harvard Law Review, and formerly taught Constitutional Law, so it'd be hard to argue that he's not qualified. He was elected as President twice, so it'd be hard to argue that the will of the American People is being subverted. Above all else though, it would potentially throw the Democratic Party into absolute chaos, should a President Biden decide to run for President as an incumbent.
One becomes a ‘lame duck’ when one’s successor is elected. You could say the president was a lame duck in 2014, but why not say he was an angry parsnip, or a vengeful salad?
I’ll grant you that this nomination, if it happens, could be considered a gambit. What you’d suggested before though, that Sandoval would be a cat’s paw meant to make a Senate confirmation more likely for an actual candidate to be revealed later, would be a whole next level of strategy. A level this administration doesn’t play at for anything but the TPP and the like.
On the numerical scale your source set out for Supreme Court justices, the Democratic nominees clustered closely together. Using those figures, there’s a great deal more extremity between Scalia and Alito than Ginsberg and Kagan. Not seeing those ladies as wildly outside the Overton window the way you seem to. Personally, I think those ratings are less than reliable. Clinton’s nominee Justice Ginsberg is the anvil that will wear out many a hammer, at least for now.
As for whether this president would nominate a moderate for the Supreme Court, time will tell, right? Reality distortion field aside, this president is to the right of Eisenhower. While you and I may have our own ideas about what the priorities are for new justices, the Powers That Be may have their own. Let me suggest some of the issues you mention may be incidental to the actual mindset either of these parties may have around who to put on the court. We don’t know what the actual calculus may be.
Me, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Obama Administration put up the Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson. He’s just been through Senate confirmation, and may embody the administration’s zealous efforts to put what Cheney once called “working the dark side” under the color of law. Similarly, I could see it being the Attorney General, Loretta Lynch. If only because Goldman Sachs may think they’d make one thin dime more with her on the bench. She's just been Senate-confirmed, her sweetheart deal deferred prosecution agreement with HSBC having been discreetly swept under the carpet until after the swearing in.
It's not my argument- Supreme Court opinions are publicly available and their records speak for themselves. I'm not advocating a position here anymore than I'm advocating a position when I say that 2 + 2 = 4. The Justices' opinions, votes, and decisions are scored by The Supreme Court Database, and their data and methods are readily available for anyone to see.
I know that this may shock you- coming as it does from a Republican, but I honestly believe that the only person Barack Obama could nominate right now- who would even stand a chance of getting confirmed by this Senate, is Barack Obama.
The President would be forced to resign in order to take the job, and I believe that Mitch McConnell would jump at the chance to end the Obama Presidency even one day sooner. He's a graduate of Harvard Law, former President of the Harvard Law Review, and formerly taught Constitutional Law, so it'd be hard to argue that he's not qualified. He was elected as President twice, so it'd be hard to argue that the will of the American People is being subverted. Above all else though, it would potentially throw the Democratic Party into absolute chaos, should a President Biden decide to run for President as an incumbent.